A Cause for Concern
by Izzu
Summary: Pokemon Adventures. Set between the Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal arc. Coming back home after all of the ordeals he faced at Mt Silver and Cerise, Red thought things will get back to what it used to be. But perhaps, achieving 'full recovery' would not be so easy after all.


Originally posted on AO3, so about time I update my fic list here.

* * *

He slowly reached out to his side towards his pokeball. He turned his hand slightly to grasp the one he needed and toss it in front of him.

"Poli! I leave the rest to you now!"

His Poliwrath quickly made quick work out of the opponent's Kadabra as they won the battle. The other trainer let out a weak smile before walking over to shake his hand.

"Ah, I should have expected that. As expected of Kanto League's champion. It's good to have battled you today."

Red chuckled softly. "The feeling's the same. I hope that we'll get to battle each other again. I'll be looking forward to seeing how you'll get stronger next time."

The other trainer smiled before taking his leave. But as soon as the other trainer disappeared from view, the smile on Red's face turned grim. Red looked down as he stared silently at his right hand. Or more specifically, his right _wrist_. His other wrist was the same too actually, but he didn't want to think about it too much.

"The numbness... is still there, huh?" he spoke softly.

It's been a few weeks since the showdown at Cerise Island, and now he's back at Pallet Town. After returning home and getting himself settled again, it seemed as if life has gone back to normal.

Well, mostly.

After the news got out that he's back at home safely and recuperating, it didn't take long for the challengers to start coming back to see if they could try their luck at battling him. Perhaps due to his earlier disappearance and rumours that he has been defeated by a mysterious challenger sparked the others to try as well. Not that he really minded it. Well, since the region was _still_ in the midst of recovery... accepting pokemon challenges (even when you ARE the current league champion) right now shouldn't be his biggest concern. But since Cerise, it's been a while since he and his Pokemon fought with anyone and he's been itching to let loose again. The others had constantly reminded him to take it easy, but then again, resting too much is also not good.

But that aside, _this_ was a thing of concern.

When the three of them got back before (they parted ways with Yellow when they reached Viridian City) Professor Oak had immediately taken him for a medical checkup. Well, he understood the reasoning. His mum and the professor must have heard about how he'd been frozen in ice for a while and they must've been worried if there were any aftereffects on his body. Thanks to that, he had been receiving a lot of care from the good people of Pallet Town.

Red let out another sigh as he tried to move his hands around again.

The pain on both his wrists and ankles were gone now, yet there's still these feelings of numbness that remained. It could just be phantom pains—remaining traces of his battle with the Elite Four but now he wondered if _this_ would continue to affect him from now on.

He still had his remaining dream about becoming a gym leader and there's also the task of completing the dex that he still hasn't resumed (Prof's kept nagging him about that lately). But with his injury from the ice move not healing completely, he wondered if should forget about that other dream. Not that his fighting ability was getting weaker, but surely his current condition would affect him greatly in the long run.

_If he couldn't find a cure for this..._

Regardless, he was still alive despite the odds. And perhaps he should just be grateful for that.

Back then, as the ice around him started to swallow him completely... he really thought that THAT was the end. If not because of Giovanni, he could have really died there.

Seriously.

* * *

Somehow the solid ice that kept him imprisoned started to break off from behind his back and he could feel his body being pulled out of the icy shell. Slowly and gradually, his senses started returning and he could think clearly. He could still feel the cold air around him, causing him to involuntarily shiver but at least it was better than the extreme cold that he was trapped in before.

He tried to open his eyes finally, but the long period of being encased in ice numbed his senses. Just like how one's eyes gradually readjust itself to be able to see in the dark, his eyes slowly started to regain its function. Even then, he could only see faint shadows around him... nothing definite.

_"You should be fine now, now that you're out of that icy prison. Aren't you a tough one?"_

The voice that was speaking towards him sounded familiar, yet he could not quite recall it from the back of his mind at the time. Before he could figure out the identity of his saviour the man had shoved three stones onto his palm.

_"Take these with you, Red. You're not gonna end here."_

The person also gave him Alakazam's spoon and telling him that it'll lead him to another decisive battle. Yet after that, the person left him after making sure that he'd be able to get out of the icy cave by himself.

* * *

Red frowned as he recalled the memories from when he was released from the ice sculpture of himself. Back then, he only had _grateful_ thoughts about the person who had saved him back then. But after knowing that Giovanni was the one who saved him, he had some mixed thoughts about it.

That man. From the first time they met, he had considered the guy as just a friendly old archaeologist who loved Pokemon like him. Because he thought that the man had _a good heart_ and he was rarely wrong about his judgement on people. Yet, this was the same man who was the leader of Team Rocket. Evil groups of people who want to make use of Pokemon to achieve their selfish goals. He had seen the other side of Giovanni's 'kind and gentle' facade. That kind of man, why would _he_ save him?

And Giovanni had also helped Yellow and them to fight Lance. And stop that person from gaining control of Lugia. But...

_... just because Giovanni had helped them a few times it didn't mean that the guy was totally their ally now. That man had mysteriously disappeared the moment they gained victory over Lance. _

Because of that, there's no way that he'll drop his guards when it comes to that man.

But what about Surge...? And Sabrina? Koga too? Well, the three didn't seem like they're going back to their old ways and both Surge and Sabrina had returned to their own gyms. So those three should be okay. Probably.

Red frowned again. That reminds him. Sabrina was also attacked by Lorelei's Jynx. Unlike Green who used Ditto to hide her real arm, Sabrina had her real wrist being bound by Jynx's ice shackle.

The after effects of Jynx's curse. Like him, Sabrina should also suffer the same injury. Perhaps he should contact her again to find out if she managed to find a cure for their ailments. There should be a cure for this... right?

"Red!"

Red turned around as Daisy Oak ran over towards his direction.

"The battle's done already? Geez, Red. You shouldn't overdo it with accepting all of the challenges that come your way just because you're the current league champion. Especially after the last incident. You should take care of your body better."

Red let out a soft chuckle as both of them started to head back towards the pokemon lab. Midway there, they saw Blue heading out again for training. Red watched the other youth for a few minutes silently.

Daisy gave the boy a weak smile.

"Are you sure about this, Red? Keeping your conditions from him? I thought you two had started a friendly rivalry after all your adventures throughout Kanto?"

Red turned his head towards her. Daisy continued. "That kid had been constantly asking about it, yanno? Blue might look indifferent at times but he's quite observant when it comes to the people or Pokemon he cared about. You might as well ask him to help in finding ways to heal your injuries. "

Red just shrugged at her before shaking his head. "I know that he'd try to help if he knew, that's why I didn't tell him. Besides, Blue must have his own things that he wanted to pursue. I don't want to burden him needlessly with my own problems. "

That made Daisy laugh as she ran her hands over Red's head. "Aww, you boys are so adorable with your awkward relationships, I really can't enough of it! Come on, we might as well resume our research for the cure of yours. And I thought you also wanted to pitch in with the Kanto restoration project..."

* * *

Blue Oak turned around finally just as he saw Red and his sister disappear into his grandfather's lab. From a distance, he tried to gauge on how badly Red's injuries had been but, of course, that's difficult to do from afar. He let out a sigh as his Scyther gave him a puzzled look.

"That idiot. Even now he's trying to keep his situation from me, acting like he's all okay. Even when I don't really mind it if he asks for my help on things."

He first noticed it at Cerise the moment they reunited again for the final battle with Lance. That the way Red seemed to use his bicycle to move around was odd. Because of that, he started paying attention to the little movements Red make during the battle with Lance. He heard about it after all, from Brock. That he found the ice statue of Red at Mount Silver. And that was one reason that raised his concerns.

To note, that was not the first time Red had been frozen in ice. He and Red had been caught in ice during their previous battle with Koga, who back then had Articuno under his control. But that time they haven't been stuck in ice for too long due to him using Charizard's strongest fire attack to the ice around them. But this time, Red had been encased in ice for who knows how long before he was freed. And he heard from the others how the nerd trainer that they caught trying to capture Red's Pikachu confessed about seeing Red still trapped in a block of unbreakable ice.

A lot of thoughts ran into his mind. Did Red get himself to a hospital after he escaped? Did Red get any treatment after his experience of being encased in ice for a long period? Or did he foolishly head towards Cerise without caring for his well-being to confront the Elite Four again? He read some articles in the past about how hypothermia may affect the body, and he knew how bad the condition would be if not treated immediately. And in Red's case, it's from a pokemon's ice type attack.

For a Pokemon that has suffered injuries from other different Pokemon, their conditions could be improved by sending them to Pokemon centres to be healed. But Red was not a Pokemon. You can't exactly put him into a Pokeball to be healed! And God knows how a pokemon's elemental attacks could affect normal human body compared to other pokemon.

And... this was about Red. Who could be so clueless about things unless there's someone around to show him the facts. Also, Red was the kind of a person who'd put up a brave front in order not to make anyone worry about him. That guy could be foolishly bearing his pain all by himself, unbeknownst to all. Exactly the very thing that might worsen his conditions!

He glanced towards his Scyther before smiling. "Guess we might as well give him some help anyway, even when we weren't asked directly. Don't you think, Scyther?"

Blue's Scyther nodded his head vigorously as Blue took out his Pokegear to give a call to Sabrina.

* * *

Finally, after so long reading Pokespe I wrote a fic on it. Heh. Using the English/Chuangyi names since it's what I started the series with.

That aside, I always wondered when did Red realize the full after-effects of Jynx attack on him, and whether he did find treatment right after he escaped Mt Silver etc. Since he did act like he's all fine when he reappeared. Same goes with Blue.


End file.
